After the Peru Y visit, we headed to CEDET - the Center for Ethnic Development. They focus on education, human rights, publications, and youth for Afro-Peruvians. They had a small house-like office. We all crowded into a small room with books on all of the shelves, and posters and other materials spread out on the table for us. The director wasn't there when we arrived, but we received a very warm welcome from the 2 ladies who were present. One of them was a grandmother-like African American woman by the name of Adriana Mandro who was genuinely excited to see us. She told us she had just come from English class and was practicing her very conversational beginner level English with enthusiasm and bashfulness. The other was a younger Indigenous or Asian woman who was very well versed in the material of the org and started briefing us immediately.

One of the first things we saw was their stack of published literature. They had over 20 books published about Afro-Peruvians. They were all phenomenal and really spoke to the Anthropologist in me. All can be found and ordered on their website http://www.cedet.net/ . I purchased a picture book. She also told us about how this organization births other organizations and separates them out so they have more power and mobility. The word "Palenque" used to mean a free space for slaves. Now in Spanish is means a free space for kids. Also, the word "Quilombo" used to me free slave space in Brazil - now in Argentina it means disaster. It's interesting how we use words without understanding where they come from or the heavy meaning behind them.

The director then entered the room. He has a vibe about him of being an activist, a professor, a revolutionary. He told us about Censa which is an Afro-Peruvian community 45 minutes outside of Lima by plane. The Afro-Peruvian population is marked as being 6-10 percent of the overall Peruvian population. This is part of the invisibility problem, because the population is actually much greater, but they aren't counted. They are minimized. This organization is working on a survey to find out how many there actually are. They are putting pressure on the government to include this as a census question.

It is difficult to get people to self-identify as afro-peruvian because there is so much negativity associated with that identity. No human wants to voluntarily associate themselves with something that receives so much hatred and bigotry. This org works closely with other nonprofits but are very aware of political vision and development.

The director told us about how "mestizo" is the mixing of culture, not of skin color. He is big in "interculturalism" and not "multiculturalism" which I agree with. He said you can only cross-breed animals and we are not animals. He told us about how schools talk a lot about identity but never the Afro identity and how we have to change textbooks in school. He was strong on explaining how there is your identity - how you identify yourself and then how others identify you and how they often aren't the same. Afro-Peruvians BUILT Lima. They don't want reparations for contributing music and food, they want to talk about who built the nation. Communities can feel Afro even though they don't look Afro. There was 500 years of Spanish occupancy but no one talks about the slaves they brought with them. People still do things in Peru that were stopped 50 years ago in the U.S. They still have black-face, thieves on TV, etc.

Even the Spanish were invaded by the Moors - so they weren't "white" even before they came to South America, unless they didn't have any kids after the raping and pillaging. Where are the white people? Then the Spanish had babies with the Indigenous and the slaves. That's why it's so difficult to define and separate. It's easier to blend in.

In Peru Multi-culturalism = bilingualism. They also still separate men and women in their language which English speakers don't do.

It was a really great experience. I am so glad we got to visit. It seemed to resonate well with the whole group.